Our last time together we studied Jesus’ statement to the disciples “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” It’s a statement that we hear often but I’m not sure we have contemplated enough. When Jesus made this statement He was “greatly displeased”, the literal language means that He was “indignant” or angered by injustice. The disciples had rebuked and attempted to send away people that had brought little children to see Jesus, they could not be bothered with children and so they didn’t want Jesus to be bothered by them either. They had already forgotten that Jesus had just recently taught them that anyone that receives little children in His name receives Him and also the Father who sent Him. Their pride and their expectations were still blocking their view of Jesus’ heart and the Father’s character. In His displeasure Jesus told the disciples not to forbid children (meaning those considered lesser) and that the kingdom of God was filled with those that were often overlooked and undervalued. Then, again, He made the statement we ended with last week, “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” Isn’t this the question that everyone wants answered? How do we get to heaven? Jesus is telling us here, not so much about heaven, but God’s House, God’s kingdom and even God’s heart; He becomes our Father when we receive Him as if we were children. Childlike faith requires trust, it requires humility, dependence and it is absolutely convinced of love. The only way to receive grace is to believe in the One who offers it; that’s childlike faith, it doesn’t always understand, doesn’t always agree, can’t always explain but it is willing to always trust the Father to be fatherly toward His children.
In tonight’s passage we are not supposed to change gears and look at another teaching, we are supposed to see the young man that will soon fall at Jesus’ feet as an object lesson for what Jesus has just taught. He said childlike faith is required and now He will show us what childlike faith needs to look like and honestly, how difficult it is to find in ourselves before we worry about seeing it in anyone else. I want us to look closely tonight at the interaction of Jesus and the rich young ruler and see if we can identify the childlike faith that Jesus called him to and the obstacles that were in the way of trusting enough to believe and believing enough to follow.